When your new schedule for the upcoming week comes out and you see that you’re off at 1 am, it’s so disheartening. Who wants to close at work? On top of that, the shift was not even a full 8-hours. Would I get enough time to eat lunch (um, I mean dinner)?

Luckily, I was able to call in yesterday and come in an hour and a half earlier to get a full 8-hour shift. It benefits both me (more money, more hours!) and the workplace (extra help around the store).

Yesterday’s shift was not bad at all. It was the first night of Mickey’s Halloween Party at Disneyland, so the park closed early. We could definitely tell when it closed because there was a huge line in the store and they told me to go on register when I was originally set to clean up around the store.

After this small rush of people, the store was relatively empty. We were able to clean up a bit early before the store even closed. By the time we closed the store and were ready to clean up, there was not much to do. This led to much fun while closing.

It’s important to note that I was working with some good friends in the College Program, including my roommate (shout-out to Bree!). As we were working on organizing the store, we often passed by each other and danced to the music. This was only for a quick minute, then we returned to our tasks, obviously. Towards the last 45 min of our shift, however, there was not much to do. At one point, we sat crossed-legged on the ground organizing some merch on a lower shelf…. for 10 minutes…. because it took us that long and required a team effort… (nobody said anything!!)

Once we clocked out, all the College Program kids walked to our cars together. This was the best part of the shift, where we bonded and laughed, talking about what we did on our 21st birthdays (or plan to do), whether we’ve eaten at Lamplight Lounge yet, and where the best parking spot at Simba was. It made closing a lot more fun, and tightened our friendships to one another.